Porirua's canopies coming down

The Council is talking to affected businesses this week about when the canopies are coming down.

The canopies were erected almost 20 years ago and are now being removed for safety reasons. After receiving expert consultant advice the Council agreed in August to dismantle the overhead fabric but to retain all of the supporting structures including the columns, cables and ground anchors.

“We’ll be ready to start removing the canopies in January and we are keen to get on with it while the sun is shining,” says City Centre Committee Chairperson Euon Murrell.
“The dismantling work will be carried out between 6pm and 6am on Sunday to Thursday nights to reduce disruption to the businesses. And contractors will also liaise with the businesses to manage specific activities that could directly affect them.”

The work is expected to take around four weeks.

At the same time, a replacement canopy will be designed so that the Council can consider the costs, durability and fabric types; especially to assess how much light will get through. Then the Council will be in a position to make an informed decision on replacement.

If the canopy is replaced in an identical form from the time of that decision, it will take around six months to manufacture the fabric and then around four weeks to install. This means that the city centre will be without overhead cover for some months after the current structure is dismantled.

The cost for replacement will need to be included in the draft Long Term Plan in April 2015.

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